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Olympic Brand Sponsor Tracker Ranks Brands in a Virtual Foot Race

olympic brand tracker unrulyIn a creative effort to identify which Summer 2012 Olympic Games sponsors are generating the most social video buzz, Unruly Media created an interactive Brand Tracker tool that tracks the 25 Olympic Games brand sponsors in “a race for advertising glory.”

You can check out the embedded interactive infographic below. Just click the “Start Race” button to watch the leading brands race down the track. The top three finishers take their spots on the winners’ podium at the bottom of the chart when the race is over.

This is not only a useful tool to identify which brands are getting the biggest boost from their Olympic Games sponsorship investments, but it’s also a clever way to track brand buzz related to social video sharing in near real-time (the tool is updated every 12 hours). The data used to create the Unruly Media viral video chart comes from the Twitter and Facebook APIs as well as Unruly Media’s proprietary blog scanning engine, which tracks links and embeds of video ads from multiple sites.

You can drill down to specific video ads that are driving the most buzz using the viral video chart, too. Just click on any of the three brands on the winners’ podium at the bottom of the chart to view the top three ads for each brand that are getting the most buzz. You can even click on the ads to watch them and view graphs that show sharing trends for each ad. As I write this article, P&G is far in the lead followed by EDF and BMW in second and third place, respectively.

Small technology companies excel at creating clever tools like Unruly Media’s viral video chart. Imagine how your brand could come up with similar interactive and fun tools to tell your brand story!

Consumers Tell Brands “Your QR Codes Stink!”

qr code scanningQR codes started with a buzz, but they never really picked up the steam they should have. What’s the problem? Are consumers simply not interested in scanning mobile bar codes?

With so many people owning smartphones (expected to reach 58.3% penetration by 2014 in the United States), timely and useful QR codes would appear to be a fantastic marketing tactic. However, in 2014, it’s expected that just 15.7% of the U.S. adult population will use barcodes.

Even consumers who try using QR codes don’t use them more than once. During the third quarter of 2011, 60% of North American consumers who scanned QR codes did so only one time. That means QR codes have two problems: initial trial and repeat usage.

The problem to-date with QR codes is very simple if you listen to what consumers have to say about them. Brands aren’t offering the experiences from QR codes that consumers want. Why should consumers take time to scan a QR code if they don’t expect to get something of value in exchange for the effort?

As eMarketer reports, a September 2011 study (by the Association of Strategic Marketing) of U.S. marketers who used QR codes found that two out of three delivered QR codes provided product information to consumers. Less than one out of four QR codes delivered discounts, coupons, or savings.

Consumers want QR codes to offer discounts and freebies, but that’s not what brands are delivering. That’s the problem with QR codes, and usage won’t increase until consumers’ expectations for them are consistently met.

Specifically, eMarketer reports the following content that U.S. internet users would be interested in scanning QR codes for:

  • To get discounts, coupons, free items: 43%
  • To get more information about a product or service: 26%
  • To get exclusive content: 25%
  • To purchase or buy something: 23%
  • To get more information about an event: 22%
  • To get more information about a brand or company: 18%

Think of it this way — a QR code shouldn’t be any more interruptive to a consumer than it has to be. QR codes should add value and enhance consumers’ lives. Cluttering their lives with information they don’t need instantly won’t successfully encourage people to scan brand QR codes. However, a brand that learns how to deliver timely and useful information using QR codes, such as discounts, will develop a level of trust with consumers that will motivate those consumers to scan the brand’s QR codes again and tell their friends how great that brand’s QR codes are. Ultimately, that brand’s sales will go up.

Image: Brian Suda

Mid-Year 2012 Global Brand Buzz Rankings

brandindex 2012 mid year reviewYouGov BrandIndex Global Brand Buzz Rankings for the first half of 2012 have been released for 12 countries in 16 industry categories. The report ranks the top brands and the brands with the most improved rankings.

Survey respondents were asked if they had heard anything positive or negative about specific brands in the last two weeks, through advertising, news or word of mouth. The top brands in the U.S. and U.K. according to the BrandIndex Buzz Rankings follow.

Top Brands in the U.S.

  1. Subway
  2. Cheerios
  3. Amazon
  4. History (Channel)
  5. Ford
  6. Discovery Channel
  7. Lowe’s
  8. Olive Garden
  9. YouTube
  10. Google

Top Brands in the U.K.

  1. BBC iPlayer
  2. Amazon
  3. Marks & Spencer
  4. John Lewis
  5. MoneySavingExpert.com
  6. Apple
  7. Sainsbury’s
  8. Cathedral City
  9. Samsung
  10. Google

The most improved brands in the U.S. and U.K. according to the BrandIndex Buzz Rankings for the first half of 2012 are:

Top Brand Buzz Improvers in the U.S.

  1. BP
  2. Toyota
  3. MTV
  4. Allstate
  5. Blue Cross/Blue Shield
  6. PBS
  7. Blockbuster
  8. Dockers
  9. Taco Bell
  10. Aflac

Top Brand Buzz Improvers in the U.K.

  1. BP
  2. British Airways
  3. Sky
  4. Ryanair
  5. British Gas
  6. Samsung
  7. Webuyanycar.com
  8. Scottish Power
  9. Cadbury
  10. London Underground

One of the most interesting highlights from the U.S. and U.K. brand buzz rankings is Google’s drop in both lists to tenth place in the top brand buzz lists. Consumers in both companies feel that the brand’s enormous reach and extension into businesses outside of what they expect from the brand they associate with internet search is becoming confusing. The perception of the brand is becoming less focused, and that’s always a problem for brands in the long-term. We’ll have to wait and see how Google handles it in the future.

The only other brand that made the top 10 brand buzz list in both the U.S. and U.K. is Amazon, which consumers’ score highly, particularly as the brand becomes more closely associated with technology through its Kindle ereader and the Waterstones e-reader (in the U.K.), as well as an upcoming launch of an Android Appstore in Europe. Technology products like these fit into the retail and ecommerce perceptions consumers expect from the Amazon brand, and they’re welcomed as the brand’s continued high buzz ranking shows.

You can follow the link to view the entire BrandIndex 2012 Mid-Year Global Brand Rankings report by country, industry category, and more.

Brands Take Notice – Teens Moving from Facebook to Twitter

teens facebook twitterWhen Twitter debuted in 2008, only 1 in 10 teens were using the microblogging site. Fast forward to 2012, and that number is up to 16% according to Pew Research — double 2011 usage statistics. This is something that brands need to take notice of and watch closely. Teens are fickle, and while it’s unlikely that Facebook’s 900 million users will suddenly abandon the site, there was a time when MySpace saw its younger users migrating to Facebook. In other words, when it comes to the teen audience, no brand is safe.

As Dave Williams explains on Ad Age, there are specific reasons why teens are starting to choose Twitter to interact with friends (and more) online. Teens view Facebook as a site for sharing content, photos, videos, and memories. On the other hand, Twitter is where teens have conversations in real-time. It’s like text messaging with a wider audience. Furthermore, teens like that they can use Twitter anonymously and create separate accounts to communicate with different audiences. Unlike Facebook where teens can’t hide from their parents and family, Twitter gives them the freedom that teens crave.

Dave writes, “Teens aren’t giving up on Facebook, but they’re treating it the same way the gainfully employed treat LinkedIn. They feel it’s important to maintain a page, but they check the social network sporadically. Twitter is where they go to check in throughout the day. ” This shift in behavior is something that brands need to take very seriously and consider in their future social media marketing efforts.

Bottom-line, it’s not surprising that teens are embracing Twitter, but are brands giving this migration the attention it deserves? My guess is that most brands are not — yet. And where teens are concerned, “yet” is already too late. Brands need to be aware of how teens use different social media tools like Facebook and Twitter, so they can effectively communicate with this audience wherever those teens are spending time.

Image: Julia Freeman-Woolpert

Marketers Buy Facebook Ads for Brand Awareness, Not Leads

facebook adsThe majority of marketers don’t invest in Facebook advertising to generate likes, gather leads, or make sales. According to a survey of Ad Age subscribers by Ad Age and Citigroup, most marketers buy Facebook ads to raise brand awareness and sentiment. In other words, marketers still haven’t figured out how to use the Facebook audience to drive advertising return on investment.

With that said, Facebook (and most social media marketing) is first and foremost a powerful brand building tool, so the fact that most marketers are using Facebook advertising for that purpose isn’t a problem. However, leadership will only allow so much money to be invested in raising brand awareness before they’ll pull the plug.

It’s an unfortunate reality that marketers face every day. There simply isn’t a line on the corporate balance sheet for brand equity. Marketers know how imperative brand building is to drive awareness, recognition, sales, loyalty, and advocacy, but it’s hard to tie growing brand equity to the hard numbers that leadership demands.

In other words, marketers continue to try to tie hard metrics to social media marketing. We’re getting closer to being able to do it, but that doesn’t mean the focus on brand-building should drop down on the list of priorities.

According to the Ad Age study, marketers identify the following as their primary goals for Facebook ads:

  1. Build awareness and sentiment for a brand = 45.9%
  2. Drive traffic to a website = 17.6%
  3. Build fans or likes = 12.1%
  4. Stay in touch with customers = 8.9%
  5. Generate sales leads = 8.4%
  6. Social commerce = 2.0%

As the above results reveal, there are still huge opportunities being missed by marketers to leverage Facebook to not only build a brand but also drive word-of-mouth marketing and sales. Of course, Facebook advertising isn’t necessarily the best way to meet all of a marketer’s branding goals, so the low numbers found in this study don’t necessarily mean that marketers aren’t adequately targeting and connecting with the site’s audience.

In fact, it could be argued that Facebook ads are one of the worst ways to connect with consumers. Suffice it to say, Facebook advertising leaves a lot to be desired from a marketer’s perspective. Only time will tell if Facebook can improve its advertising offerings to brands.

What do you think? Leave a comment and share your thoughts on Facebook advertising.

Image: Franco Bouly

Recycled Shoes from Nike Bring “Being Green” to a New Level

nike gsNike launched its newest green product at the Summer of Innovation event in London on Monday — the Nike GS. This isn’t just a soccer boot. It’s a “re-imagined football” boot made of castor beans, recycled bottles and other recycled materials.

Nike describes the Nike GS as “the lightest, fastest production boot Nike has ever made, and the most environmentally friendly boot available. Every component of the Nike GS has been optimized to reduce weight and waste, creating Nike’s lightest football boot ever at 160 grams for a size nine.”

To increase the exclusive perception of the Nike GS brand, just 2012 pairs will be available in August through select retailers. The $300.00 price tag will undoubtedly add to the premium brand position that Nike is trying to give the GS. Nike is also driving additional excitement to the GS with a web page that asks, “The Nike GS is built for a new generation of players known for explosive speed. Which athlete will debut the Nike GS?”

So far, the GS design, positioning, and marketing are a great example of a powerful brand gaining additional positive publicity by pairing a social cause with its product innovation. And announcing it just before the Olympic Games are held in London is great timing.

It’s a strategy that is likely to pay off quite well for Nike. As long as the company’s claims about its product are true and the product performs as Nike claims it does, this seems like a winner for the company and the brand. And if the comments and thousands of shares on the Nike Facebook Page where pictures of the new Nike GS were published are any indication, consumers like what they’ve seen and heard about this environmentally-friendly, high-performance product.

To further explain the product, hard-hitting copy accompanies the launch announcement and marketing materials. “Faster. Meaner. Lighter. Greener. The Nike GS, deadly by nature.” That sums things up quite well, don’t you think? Leave a comment and share your opinion.

Image: Nike